Many archers use "trailers" when hunting (particularly deer hunting) to facilitate tracking the game after a hit which is not immediately fatal. A trailer is a brightly colored, light weight, very strong line which is attached to the arrow and pulled off a spool as the animal flees. The idea is to let the animal stop soon (do not pursue right away) so it can lie down and die through loss of blood. After a discreet wait, the archer simply follows the line to his prey. The spool is enclosed in a drum or container which is mounted on the riser section of the bow by threading a spud into the usual threaded boss provided for mounting a stabilizer bar. For various reasons, the archer may not want to wait while the deer dies. He may want to go in for lunch or it may be getting dark and require return at dawn. With the prior art apparatus, all the archer can do under such circumstances is to remove the drum from the bow and leave it, hoping to find it on his return and hoping the line can run free if the deer moves; otherwise the line can break and he has lost the trailer and the deer.